The Nord, the Nurse, and Other Tales
by Dr.Schadenfreude055
Summary: A series of oneshots featuring some of my personal favorite rarepairs from this series (Specifically the Cold Steel games so far). With special regard to Gaius x Linde. More pairings will be added as the collection expands and the rating may change as well.
1. Nervous Newcomers (Gaius x Linde)

**Chapter 1: Nervous Newcomers**

With the late-day glow seeping in through the windows, sculptures and paintings on the tables and walls, and hardly anyone speaking a word- aside from a few mutters- one could say that the Art Club room at Thors was a calm and peaceful place to be in… Aside from the manic workings of the club's head, Clara, a Second-Year student of the academy, who was busy chipping away at her newest sculpture idea.

Busy enough to completely ignore the two newcomers to the club, who were essentially left to their own devices. As such, the two first-year students decided to set up their own canvases and start with something simple, a flower vase.

One of the newcomers, a tall and tan young man named Gaius Worzel, didn't particularly mind the nonchalance of their club head or the lack of tutelage she provided. He was more focused on the idea that he'd be able to create art while surrounded by art at the same time. An experience that he himself didn't get much of an opportunity to witness in the past, given that he hailed from the nomadic lifestyle of the Nord Highlands. So while he could admit that the situation wasn't _perfect_, it was something he could work with.

Sadly, he couldn't say the same of his fellow newcomer; a young pink-haired girl named Linde. She didn't talk much in the time they spent painting together so far, but he could tell from just being near her that she was pretty timid. And the lack of any guidance from their club head was clearly not helping.

When one of Gaius' classmates, a jet black-haired young man named Rean Schwarzer, came into the room while doing his rounds through the campus, he managed to catch a snippet of Linde whispering to him about her worries regarding the club; wondering if joining the club was a mistake due to a few reasons. Namely that Clara was so absorbed into her own sculpture work that she won't teach either of them anything. But then she said something that stuck with him…

"_And then there's Gaius who seems… a little hard to approach."_

'"Hard to approach?" Me?' Gaius thought. Granted, she prefaced that phrase with an 'a little', but it still resonated within the young Nord. 'I've been trying to seem friendly, but I guess I've been coming across as more stoic than anything.' The young man continued to think on this as he painted, though, his focus suffered as a result.

As time marched on, the energy of the club members went down with the sun and soon, it was time to head back to their dorms. Given that the next day was a free day for the campus, Clara didn't even bother putting her sculpture away, settling for putting her tools to the side instead. As for Gaius and Linde, they stayed behind a bit longer to make extra sure their stations were all cleaned up.

While the two newcomers to the club were cleaning, an idea came to Gaius. 'Maybe I could use this opportunity to properly talk to Linde. Hopefully then, she'll find me easier to approach and we can try to get along.'

When both Gaius and Linde had finished cleaning up and got to putting away their canvases, the young man had decided that this would be a good time to approach her.

"So, Linde," he began, noticing a tiny jolt in the pinkette before she turned to him. 'Can't exactly blame her, that did come out of nowhere,' he thought. "How are you doing with your painting so far?" He figured he might as well start with some small talk.

It seemed to have worked, as he noticed Linde visibly ease up herself just the tiniest bit before answering him. "O-oh, umm… I'm coming along alright, I guess. Not quite where I want it to be yet, though."

Gaius chuckled, "What a coincidence, same here. Though, that may be because I'm not entirely sure where I should improve upon." With that said, he noticed Linde eyeing him with a small smile and an expression that basically told him that they were in the same boat. Then an idea came to him. "Do you mind if I take a look at yours? Maybe we could give each other some pointers." He suggested.

Linde seemed surprised at this, but thought about it for a second. "Sure, why not? Though, I'm not sure what I'd be able to teach you." She acquiesced with a small chuckle before setting her canvas down and turning it to where Gaius had a clear view of it.

Aaaand it took all of about two seconds of looking at Linde's painting for Gaius to realize that any pointers he would likely have would more than likely be… Well, pointless.

"Wow, that's… Actually really good, Linde." he stated. Compared to his painting, Linde's was more varied in the depth of the coloring and composition.

Linde blushed a bit at the praise. "Y-You really think so? I'm still kind of a novice at this." She said while twirling one of her braids nervously.

Gaius smiled with a chuckle. "You say that, and yet it's clear to me that you've been painting for quite some time."

Linde seemed to brighten up a bit at the observation. "W-well, I have always been a bit fond of painting. Ever since I was young, really" she admitted with a small smile. "That's pretty much the main reason why I joined this club, actually. So I could learn more about it. But…"

"Clara hasn't exactly been very welcoming or forthright in that regard?" Gaius finished for her, to which she nodded. The young nomad shot her a sympathetic smile before continuing. "Well, I believe that only reinforces my idea that we should help each other out. Give each other pointers and such…" He looked back at Linde's painting. "Though I feel like I should be asking you for pointers instead."

Linde shot Gaius a curious look. "A-are you sure? Your painting looks good to me" she asked him.

Gaius shook his head with a thoughtful expression on his face. "Thank you for saying that but… I don't know, it just feels like I'm missing something…" He pondered for a moment before shrugging. "Honestly, I'm not sure exactly what I want to paint yet."

"Really? That's a bit of a surprise." Linde said. "You seemed so sure of yourself when you came in here…" She then took another, longer look over Gaius' painting. And after a moment, "But I can see some parts that could use some improvement."

Gaius smiled a bit. "Well, I'd be happy to hear whatever advice you can give me, Linde." he said warmly.

Linde, after taking a moment to think, then turned to Gaius with a small smile. "I think I see what you're getting at. And I'm thinking… Since Clara definitely doesn't seem interested in teaching us at all..." she trailed for a bit, before nodding. "Okay, let's give it a try."

Gaius chuckled warmly as his smile widened. "Glad to hear it, Linde." He extended a hand out to his fellow first-year. "Starting tomorrow, let's both do our best to help each other out to become better artists."

Linde giggled a bit at this, grasped his hand and shook. "I like the sound of that!" She agreed with a smile.

* * *

_The Next Day…_

As Rean was going around the campus, doing his rounds and fulfilling requests given to/forced upon him by a combination of both the Student Council and his lazy yet insightful instructor, he came upon the Art Club room once more. Though, he did have a proper reason for being there; he knew Gaius would be in and wanted to make sure if he would be available to help him with the request regarding the Old Schoolhouse.

He was not entirely expecting to see his spear-wielding friend taking some pointers from the timid-looking pink-haired girl who, just the day prior, had said he seemed 'a little hard to approach'.

As he stepped up to talk to Gaius he caught a bit of their conversation.

"Umm… I think it might be good to try and give this painting a bit more depth…" Linde suggested somewhat nervously. Then she turned a bit towards their club head, who was still hard at work on her sculpture. "Wh-What do you think, Clara?"

"Whatever." Typical Clara-style response, right there.

Gaius seemed to sense that Linde was somewhat discouraged by Clara's answer and gave one of his own. "Haha, this should really help me improve. Thanks, Linde." He stated gratefully. Rean noticed a small smile on Linde's face after that.

Seeing this exchange, it didn't take long for Rean to figure out what was going on. And it made him smile as well. Though, he realized that he shouldn't have been surprised; Gaius is one of the friendliest people he's met so far at Thors. So it's little wonder that he managed to befriend someone who seemed afraid of him just a day prior.

After Rean had checked in with Gaius and was making his way out the door, he realized a couple things. First, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Clara was making very subtle aside glances at both Gaius and Linde. Whether it was a momentary distraction from her work, her checking on her club's new members, or something else entirely, he wasn't really sure.

And second, he realized that after Gaius gave Linde his reassurance after she gave her advice, she had a very minor blush on her face… Well, whatever it meant, Rean knew one thing for sure. Keeping tabs on the Art Club just became a priority for him.

* * *

AN: Wow, it's been a while since I've posted anything on this site. Almost 3 &½ years, I think? Anyway, good to be back. Let me know what you guys think of this and if you've got any suggestions, I'd be happy to hear 'em!

Have a good one, folks!


	2. Main Course (Rean x Sara)

**The Main Course**

**AN: **Just for future reference, all the Rean pairing oneshots that take place in CS3 and beyond work with the idea of the pairing in question being carried over from CS2

* * *

Listening to his former instructor regale him with the story of her past, Rean could only stare in awe and sympathy at the pink-haired woman. Sara had gone through so much pain and heartache, and yet here she was. Strong, kind and caring; albeit with a bit of a crazy sense of humor, but hey-no one's perfect.

As Sara finished her tale, Rean closed his eyes in thought for a moment. "I finally understand." he began. "The true origin of your strength and kindness." he said as he reopened his eyes and gazed fondly at the A-Rank Bracer.

The pink-haired woman took a sip from her cup of Spirytus before responding. "Nah, I'm not strong or kind." she responded softly. "But I think I've finally started to get closer, little by little… Closer to being like the man I admired so much. My dad, my commander, and my first love…" she finished wistfully.

"Sara…" Rean began softly as he turned to fully face his former instructor. 'And she wondered why I fell for her…' Then another little thought came to his head. "Haha… But it makes sense now. No wonder you fall for all the silver foxes."

That little crack from her successor managed to get a small but genuine smile and chuckle from the A-Rank Bracer. "Yeah. No getting around the fact I've got myself the daddy of all father complexes." she remarked.

Then she turned to Rean with a wink and a slightly wider smile. "But, you know… Lately, I've found myself attracted to some younger guys." She said playfully. "Although…" She began, putting her free hand to her chin as if she was deep in thought. "It might just be one younger guy in particular…"

'Ah, so we're doing it like that, huh?' Rean thought with a small chuckle. "Really now? Do I know this 'younger guy'?" he asked, playing along.

Sara's smile grew as she put her drink down and moved to fully face Rean as she leaned on the counter. "I believe you might, actually. I seem to remember him saying…" she seemed to think for a bit. "What was it? Oh, right. That he 'would become a dashing gent that could turn even my head.'"

Rean chuckled as he shook his head at the memory. 'Goddess above, was I cheesy back then' he thought… Though if we're all honest, he hadn't really changed much in that regard. "Well, has he succeeded in that aspect?" he asked. Even though she had said earlier that he'd 'really turned into a MAN', in this moment, he wanted to hear a proper, serious answer from her.

Sara then seemed somewhat bashful as she looked at the jet black-haired man with a soft fondness and a warm smile; and placed a hand over his. "I'd say 'mission accomplished.'" she said quietly. "Only thing is…" the pink-haired Bracer trailed, softly rubbing her thumb over Rean's hand. "I'm not entirely sure if he's still up for going for the Main Course… It has been a while, after all…"

The younger instructor looked at his covered hand for a moment before turning back to Sara with another warm smile. "I think he'd be…" he trailed, dropping his smile for a moment as he thought over something. Then, Rean moved his hand so that their fingers were interlocked before looking directly into Sara's eyes. "No… I know _I_ am still more than willing… Sara." he stated quietly yet firmly, dropping all pretenses.

This seemed to throw Sara for a second; but only a second, as she tightened her grip on Rean's hand ever so slightly and moved her other hand to gently caress his face with a fond smile.

"Glad to hear it…" she said softly, as the pink-haired Bracer leaned in to gently place a kiss on his lips.

Rean responded almost immediately by returning the kiss and moving a hand to caress her head. After a short moment, the two of them stood up from their seats to gently embrace each other as they continued the kiss.

The two of them eventually broke their kiss to grab some air, leaning their foreheads against each other with small blushes on their cheeks. They stayed in that position for a few moments, catching their breath and looking into each others eyes.

"I'm going to be honest with you here, Rean. I kind've wanted to do that since we met up in the canyon." Sara admitted with a soft chuckle.

"Heh, well, guess it goes without saying that I'm the same way." Rean admitted in turn before leaning in to place another kiss on the Bracer's lips. One that she was all too happy to return herself.

But before they could get too much further in their session, Sara broke off and put a finger to Rean's lips. "Okay, Ladykiller," she began with a chuckle. "As much as I would love to continue this, I'm not sure this is the best place for that."

Rean got the idea after a second and chuckled in return. "Yeah, I don't think Randy would appreciate it if I brought you into our room." Not to mention the thought of how Major Irving would react.

"Planning on bringing me to your room already, eh? You've certainly become pretty forward, haven't you?" Sara teased with a friendly smirk.

In the past, Rean would more than likely have started blushing and stammering quite a bit at that remark. Now, though? "Hey now, you were thinking the same thing, Sara." He responded with a chuckle.

"Haha, guilty as charged!" Sara said happily. Then the Bracer took on a softer expression before moving to fully hug Rean again. "But in all seriousness, Rean? Thanks… Just… Thanks." Before the instructor could ask, she moved to give him one last soft kiss on the cheek.

"And with that, I bid you good night and sweet dreams." Sara said softly as she let Rean go and stepped around him to head to her own room for the night. And if Rean didn't know any better, he could've sworn she was adding a little sway in her hips as she walked.

Now alone again, Rean took a moment to recount what exactly just happened before smiling to himself and bringing his fingers to his own lips. Sara's lips felt especially soft during their kiss; and though there was definitely some scent of alcohol in there, he wouldn't have had his first kiss be any other way.

Something started sticking out to Rean in the corner of his eye, though. Then he realized something, they'd forgotten to clean up their glasses and put away the bottle of Spirytus. "Whoops. Well, don't wanna leave this stuff out like this." the instructor mused to himself as he gathered the glasses and closed the bottle. "As for the bottle… I guess I'll wait until tomorrow morning to give it to her."

* * *

_The Next Morning…_

Normally for this area, mornings are usually fairly quiet and peaceful, but as of now, it was anything but. The air was filled with the sounds of the students from the Thors Branch Campus working, talking and fulfilling their normal duties before they began their training.

It also contained the sounds of two of their instructors, Towa and Rean, making departure preparations for their guests from the night prior. Since Angelica and Claire both needed to get to Ordis, they decided to have Angelica be the one to get them there on her orbal bike with Claire in the sidecar. While Rean and Towa managed to get a horse for Sara so she could head to Raquel herself.

Eventually, the preparations were complete and the time came for the camp's three guests to leave. But as Sara grabbed the reins for her horse, she seemed to hesitate for a second before donning a small smirk.

"Rean? Could you come here for a second?" she called out to the black-haired instructor.

"Hmm? Uh, sure." Rean responded, stepping up to the Bracer. "What's-" he started before he was interrupted by Sara planting a kiss on his lips… Right in full view of the other three.

"Ah!"

"Oh!"

"Whoa, damn, Rean!"

After a moment, Sara broke the kiss and chuckled a bit. "Just wanted to give you a little 'see you later gift~'" she said happily to a now-blushing Rean.

Rean couldn't exactly formulate a proper response at the moment, then he registered the reactions of the ladies around them. Towa's face was bright red and she had a hand covering her mouth and Angelica was giving him a thumbs up while smirking smugly. Claire seemed to be fairly surprised, but she also seemed to be having a bit of a lightbulb moment. '...Guess that explains to her why I backed away from her trying to kiss me on the cheek last night.' he thought.

"Heh, I knew it." Rean and Sara both stiffened a bit as they heard a very smug sounding voice. They turned and lo and behold, there was Rean's Class VII, with each of them having varying reactions to what they just saw. Ash was shooting the two of them a _very_ smug smirk while Kurt was simply looking very surprised. Meanwhile, the girls all had blushes on their faces, but Altina was giving their instructor a flat deadpan stare while Juna and Musse both sported shocked expressions of their own.

"Heheh, I figured the two of you were gettin' pretty into it last night, looks like I'm right." Ash stated.

"Really, Ash?!" Juna shouted at her classmate, her blush deepening.

"Utterly scandalous." Altina stated simply, her flat stare unwavering towards her instructor and the Bracer.

"Hmmm… So there is yet another obstacle in between me and our dear instructor now, it seems~." Musse said, managing to compose herself and donning her usual smile, but keeping her blush.

"Honestly, you four…" Kurt sighed and shook his head before shooting Rean a sympathetic smile. "Apologies for… Um… Interrupting, Instructor. But we merely came out to let you know that we were ready to start the briefing for our field exercises today." the silver-haired young man explained.

Managing to regain his composure, Rean cleared his throat. "Got it, thank you, Kurt. We're just about done here, anyway." he stated before turning to the three ladies who were about to depart. 'And note to self, figure out how Ash knew about what me and Sara did last night.' he thought to himself.

"Have a safe trip, Major Claire, good luck with the council, Angelica, and I'll see you later, Instructor." he said to the three departing ladies; making sure to at least try to regain some sense of professionalism.

"Heheh, thanks, Rean. See you later!" Angelica said, with her grin still on her face. As she revved up her orbal bike, she turned to a still-blushing Towa and winked. "And I'll definitely see you later, my dear sweet Towa~"

That seemed to knock the shorter instructor out of her stupor before she turned to her friend with a smile. "Heheh, good luck, Angie!"

Claire nodded with a small smile. "Of course, Rean. Good luck with your field exercises." she said before turning to Juna. "And to you as well, Juna." The pink-haired girl responded with a bright smile and a wave.

Sara, meanwhile, shot Rean an apologetic smile; which Rean returned with one of his own. "You got it, Rean. And hey, let me know if you guys need any help with your exercises, alright? I'll just be a call away." she stated as she climbed onto her horse with a wink towards Rean.

Rean responded with a far more confident smile and a nod. "Of course, thank you." he said right before the three ladies started to head out past the gate of the camp. With them gone, Rean let out a small sigh and turned towards his smaller coworker. "Sorry about that, Towa."

Towa turned to him with a small blush and smile. "Oh, don't worry about it, Rean! That just surprised me, is all." she admitted. "But I'm happy for you two… Though, I guess it does explain a few things from a while back…"

"Oooohh, do tell, Instructor Towa~" Musse sang out. "I'm just _dying_ to know if-"

"No." Rean cut her off before turning to his class with a more serious expression. "I may be willing to share a fair share about my personal life, but that's a little too personal for me. Especially in front of my students. Now come on, we gotta get to the briefing."

Kurt nodded at this. "I agree wholeheartedly, let's go." he said, somewhat eager to drop the subject. Juna seemed to agree as she nodded as well, albeit with a small blush still lingering on her cheeks. Meanwhile Altina had silently dropped her deadpan stare and nodded as well, turning on her heel to head back to the Derfflinger with Juna in tow.

"Tch, you're no fun." "Oh, poo~" Ash and Musse responded respectively. Though, Musse didn't seem too downtrodden about being shut down. Then again, she never seemed to get down over anything yet. While Ash still seemed to be as smug as ever, though he did look to be a tad annoyed as well.

And with that, the rest of Class VII, along with Towa starting heading back to the Derfflinger for the briefings on their missions for the day. Along the way, Rean noticed something, a few of the other Branch Campus students seemed to be eyeing them; or more specifically, eyeing Rean.

Before Rean could dwell on it any further, he and his class were greeted by Randy and Major Irving as soon as they stepped through the train door. Randy sported a smirk while Irving seemed about as stoic as ever.

"Heya, Rean." the red-haired instructor greeted his coworker before getting a somewhat mischievous glint in his eyes. "So, that your type, huh? Purple Lightning… Well, can't say you don't have taste."

And once again for this morning, Rean stiffened. "Uh… You saw that, huh?"

"Pretty much the whole camp did, Schwarzer." Major Irving confirmed with a sigh. "For future reference, please try to keep your private matters private. Clear?"

The only response Rean could muster was to groan and cover his face in embarrassment as his students-minus Kurt-started to either leer at him or lay into him once more. The sounds of Randy's lighthearted chuckles didn't exactly help, either.

Meanwhile, Towa could only lightly sigh and give Rean a sympathetic glance. "Oh, Rean… I feel for you… But I don't exactly envy you right now." she admitted quietly.

'I don't blame you, Towa.' Rean thought to himself before uncovering his face and sighing in resignation. 'Oh Aidios, this is going to be a long day. I just know it.'

The poor man had no idea just how right he was…

* * *

AN: Well, sorry that took so long to get done, folks. Let's just say it took me a while to find my groove for this one. And having to deal with some stuff at home (nothing bad, don't worry) didn't exactly help either. Thankfully, I think I found my flow near the end of writing this. Anyway, go ahead and let me know your thoughts on this. I would definitely appreciate some opinions on how I'm doing.

Thanks and have a good one, folks!


	3. Reunions (Gaius x Linde)

**Reunions**

AN: Just as a heads up, there WILL be some inter-connectivity between the oneshots. Or rather, the ones I say are interconnected.

* * *

Gaius never considered himself the type to get nervous too easily. His friend Rean could easily attest to that, especially after witnessing him keep his cool when they were training in Einhel Keep earlier and back when they were fighting the Steel Maiden alongside Aurelia back in the Juno Naval Fortress.

And yet, there he was, alone with Linde in her office, and somehow at a loss for words. It was only a few minutes after his pink-haired friend had returned that Rean got a call on his Arcus from one of the other instructors, likely Irving. Whoever it was, they needed Rean to help set up the conference room for their later briefing on their upcoming Field Exercise. And Rean being Rean, he of course accepted, saying he'd only be gone for a few minutes.

Gaius wasn't worried about how long his former classmate would be gone, his train was still a ways away and they'd already had a good talk. The Nord was more nervous about his pink-haired friend in the room with him.

From the moment Linde saw him again, Gaius could tell that she was holding herself back. From what, though, he wasn't entirely sure. Knowing Linde, it was more than likely nothing too bad, but he still couldn't eliminate the possibility that she was mad at him for the complete lack of contact on his end; not that he could really blame her if she was.

It had only been a moment since Rean had left, and the awkwardness had already started to build. Gaius then noticed that Linde had started to become visibly nervous and somewhat fidgety. The sight reminded him of how she was when they had first met in the Art Club back at Thors.

The silence and awkwardness quickly proved to be too much for Gaius as he spoke up. "So, Linde. I-" Or at least he tried to. Before he was interrupted by the pink-haired nurse practically jumping from her chair to throw her arms around his neck and embrace him.

Before Gaius could regain his composure in his, for once, flustered state, Linde spoke up. "I'm so happy to see you again, Gaius; I missed you so much." she admitted to her old friend as she tightened her embrace.

Gaius was stunned, he didn't exactly expect for his friend to do _this_. However, it wasn't unwelcome in the slightest as the Nord smiled softly as he stood up from his seat with Linde still hanging on and warmly returned the embrace. "I missed you too, Linde." he said as he gently tightened his grip on his pink-haired friend.

The two of the former Thors Art Club members held their embrace for a few more moments before releasing each other. "I'm going to be honest here, Gaius, I've been holding that in since you walked in here." Linde admitted with a small blush and smile as she smoothed out her uniform.

'Guess that answers that question.' Gaius mused to himself. "Haha, well, I really appreciate it, Linde" he said warmly as they both sat back down. Then the Nord turned somewhat somber, "I really am sorry for not keeping in touch, though."

Linde shook her head at this, "It's alright, like you said, you were somewhere out of range for us to contact you, right?" she asked her friend. Gaius nodded and the nurse shot him a small friendly smile in response. "Okay… And I know you wouldn't go off somewhere that far without notice if it wasn't important. And you said it was; so you don't need to apologize. Alright?"

Linde then started blushing a tiny bit and looked to the side. "Though, I will admit… I was pretty worried about you." she admitted just quiet enough for Gaius to hear. Then the nurse shot him a bright smile "But you're here now, and that's more than enough for me."

Once again, Gaius was at a loss for words for a moment. But again, in typical Gaius fashion, he managed to quickly get a hold of himself and give Linde a very warm smile of his own. "Thank you, Linde… And I'm really glad to see you too."

Linde's smile seemed to brighten even further at Gaius' admission as she gave a small chuckle. "I'm happy to hear that, Gaius." Her eyes then gained a somewhat introspective glint to them. "Although, whatever your reasons were…" she trailed, causing her friend's smile to falter ever so slightly. "I think we can all agree on one thing." the intern then held up a finger. "You've really grown from it!" she stated with a somehow even brighter smile.

That got a fairly hearty chuckle out of Gaius. "You really think so?" he asked lightheartedly.

"Yeah! I mean, I know I said you'd grown earlier, but… Wow!" she exclaimed. "It's almost crazy how tall you've gotten!"

"Haha, you think so? Don't worry, I think I'm done growing now." Gaius responded with a small grin, managing to garner a chuckle out of the nurse. After a moment, his expression became somewhat softer as he gazed at Linde. "But you know… You've grown quite a bit yourself, Linde." he stated fondly.

That last remark seemed to throw Linde for a loop for a moment as another small blush donned her cheeks. "You think so?"

Gaius responded with a nod. "Yes, and I don't just mean physically." he began. "Transferring to St. Ursula's, becoming a medical intern, and now being the one running the medical office of the Thors Branch Campus? You've accomplished quite a lot in a short amount of time. I'm proud of you, Linde."

If Gaius thought the smile Linde showed earlier was bright, this next one she shot at him was positively radiant. "Thanks, Gaius… It means a lot to hear you say that." she said somewhat bashfully.

"You're very welcome, Linde." Gaius responded, giving a small bow of his head. "Haha, you know, the more I think about it, the more I realize just how well being a doctor suits you."

Linde gave a small chuckle at her friend's remark. "Hey, I'm not a doctor yet, you know."

"I do know that, but it doesn't stop me from thinking that you'd be a great one." Gaius stated warmly. "You're kind, caring, understanding, and you have a nurturing side that just seems so natural to you." he continued, a small yet confident smile on his face. Just then, another thought came to him, one that he couldn't help but voice.

"Not to mention you also look the part of a good doctor, especially now. You look good in that uniform, suits you perfectly."

And with that, another bout of silence entered the room for a moment. Gaius was surprised that those words had come tumbling out of his mouth, just as much as the now full-on blushing Linde was. Luckily for Gaius, he managed to prevent at least one more thought from slipping out of his mouth in regards to Linde's uniform suiting her; 'in more ways than one'. But with that, came one more question the Nord began asking himself internally. Where did _that _come from?

Before Gaius could try to walk back his statement, Linde spoke up. "U-um… Thank you, Gaius." she responded, managing to temper the redness covering her face and shooting a shy yet happy smile despite herself. Only for her blush to intensify ever so slightly again as she continued. "Um… I think you look really good too. I mean, as you are now."

Gaius managed to respond with a small, flattered smile but chose to not say anything further; lest he accidentally let slip something else and make the situation even more awkward. Luckily for the both of them, Rean returned only a moment after their exchange. The three friends then managed to get back to what they were talking about beforehand while enjoying a nice cup of tea along the way. And so, the awkward tension that had arisen once again between the Nord and the nurse (Roll credits!) fell to the wayside.

While the three friends were enjoying themselves, time seemed to fly by and soon the time had come for Gaius to prepare to leave. As Rean and Linde walked Gaius to the station, the trio started discussing their plans for the near future. With particular attention being paid to Rean and Gaius' plans to hopefully hold a reunion with the rest of the Old Class VII soon.

Before they knew it, the trio was at the train station. Both Rean and Linde made extra sure to see Gaius off with well wishes and smiles, and Gaius made sure to do the same for them. As the Nord moved to head into the station, however…

"Wait, Gaius, hold on just a second!" Linde called out to her friend. As Gaius turned to respond, the nurse walked up to him. "Just… One more thing." she requested. Then, she did something that would once again leave Gaius dumbstruck and also give Rean a bit of a surprise (and a little clarity).

The pink-haired nurse leaned up ever so slightly to place a gentle kiss on Gaius's cheek.

Even though the kiss had lasted for only a split-second, Gaius felt as if it lasted way longer than that. Once the tall Nord had gathered his bearings, he'd noticed that Linde had stepped back beside Rean, who was now practically gaping at her with wide eyes. He also noticed that the nurse was blushing and smiling shyly at him.

"WHOOOOWEE! Get it, girly!" A familiarly accented voice shouted at the trio. Linde immediately dropped her smile and paled a bit as she stiffened and slowly turned to regard the eavesdropping Becky, who was standing by the fountain with a giant grin and her hands on her hips. "Would you look at that! The sexy nurse managed to land herself a sexy man, ah? I knew you had it in ya', lassie!"

Linde then turned to Gaius, absolutely bright red, clearly realizing exactly what she just did. "U-Um… It was really good to meet up with you, Gaius. Hope to see you again soon!" she said to him before she started fast walking back to the Branch Campus.

Gaius opened his mouth to try to call out to Linde, but the words just wouldn't come to him. And before he knew it, she was out of earshot for him. Meanwhile, Rean had managed to shake himself out of his stupor. "Huh, wow… Certainly wasn't expecting that from her." the instructor remarked.

"Heheh, maybe she and Vivi have more in common than we thought, aye?" Becky said as she walked up to the two gents and turned to Gaius with a somewhat apologetic smile. "Good to see you, Gaius. Sorry for scarin' her off like that, though."

"Um… Yeah…" Gaius trailed as he gazed at where he last saw Linde. A loud bell from the station behind him caused him to jump a little before he realized. His train was there now and it was time to start boarding. "Well, that's my cue." he said before turning to his friends with a small smile. "Take care, Becky; see you later, Rean."

"Yeah. Have a safe trip, Gaius." "You too, Gaius!" Rean and Becky responded with smiles of their own. Although, Rean's smile seemed to have a glint of sympathy to it. Now that Gaius thought about it, he did hear about a similar sort of situation that happened with Rean and Instructor Sara back in Lamare.

The next few minutes as he boarded the train seemed to fly by for Gaius. He simply could not get that kiss out of his head for the life of him. As the Nord sat in his seat with the window down and the breeze flowing through his hair, he brought a hand to the cheek Linde had kissed.

Linde had kissed him. _Linde._ The girl who seemed so nervous about him when they first met. The girl whose timidity had led to her getting used by others more than once, mainly by her twin sister Vivi for her pranks. Granted, she wasn't really that same girl anymore, she'd really grown and matured over the last couple years.

Regardless, she kissed him. Even though it was clearly a heat of the moment decision and was placed on his cheek, a kiss was a kiss as far as Gaius was concerned.

But there was one thing that Gaius just couldn't really figure out. Why did he like that kiss so much? Now that he thought about it, though, Gaius realized that he was sort of acting a bit strange around Linde earlier.

Then a realization came to him; or rather, it hit him like a truck. Gaius remembered that one little traitorous thought that had arisen in his mind back when he was extolling his compliments to Linde. Specifically, her uniform being… _Very_ well suited to her. He wasn't simply admiring her from an objective viewpoint, he was _checking her out_.

He hadn't really thought about it until that point, but Gaius realized that in his absence, Linde had become… Well, beautiful. Though, if he was to be entirely honest, Gaius always thought she was beautiful, or at least pretty or cute. But seeing Linde again, receiving that hug from her, having that heart to heart with her in her office, admiring her, and getting kissed by her on the cheek… All that brought about a rise in emotions that Gaius hadn't realized had been there for quite some time. Or rather, he had realized they were there in the past, he simply didn't acknowledge just how deep they were for him.

As he ruminated on these realizations and the depth of his fondness for the pink-haired nurse, Gaius continued gazing out at the moving Erebonian landscape before him, with the wind flowing around him and through his hair.

He then closed his eyes. "Oh winds and the Goddess above," Gaius began quietly. "Please, grant my friends your guidance, so that they may find where their path leads them next. And please, grant us your strength, so that we may overcome whatever darkness comes our way in the future, both near and far."

He paused for a moment before sighing wistfully. "And please, grant me the courage and wisdom to help me treat the woman I've come to cherish as she so deserves." Gaius requested as he finished his prayer, a soft smile on his face.

* * *

AN: Oh, god, I'm so sorry this took a while. Getting caught up with all the stuff that's been going on in the world's been draining, along with looking for a new job and waiting for a required email from the corporate side of the place I applied to.

Anyway, hope you all enjoyed this! Let me know what you think and I'll see ya'll next time!

And stay safe and healthy, folks. Seriously.


	4. Festival Outings (R x S, G x L)

**Festival Outings**

AN: Heheh, thankfully, I remembered I still had my OLD (Nearly 5 years old) laptop so I'm using that for now until I get my proper laptop back. So this chapter is coming faster than I realized. Gonna try experimenting with multiple perspectives for this one. Let's go!

* * *

Heimdallr's Summer Festival is certainly not an event lacking in sights to see. Food stands, tours, sideshows, contests, you name it, the festival would have it. And of course, all the different sorts of people around from all walks of life and all over the continent would certainly ensure that one isn't left wanting for interesting conversations and stories.

However, while many of these attractions would normally be interesting enough for most people, a discerning eye would likely be able to pick out a certain duo from the crowd. Namely, one Ashen Chevalier and one Purple Lightning.

What was originally a visit and donation to the St. Astraia Charity Bazaar to wind down from a couple earlier missions with Lechter, Altina and the others had turned into a leisurely stroll throughout the capital for Rean and Sara. The pair made sure to take part in more of the festivities; playing some games and contests, watching a few sideshows, trying some of the food, interacting with a couple tourists, trading stories and laughs, getting each other some small gifts, and overall (most importantly) just plain enjoying each other's company.

If the situation were any different, Rean's mind would likely be plagued with concerns and doubts at the moment. And who could blame him? After all, they had narrowly avoided disaster the day before with both the Calvardian Spec-Ops and the near revival of an ancient evil dragon. Not to mention their encounter with Azure Siegfried and the overall uncertainty of the future ahead for Erebonia.

But now, in this moment, those thoughts were quelled for the time being. The jovial atmosphere of the festival combined with having Sara, the woman he had come to care so deeply for, by his side helped see to that. For the first time in a long while, Rean felt genuinely happy and at peace; if only for a short time.

Sadly for the pair, though, all good times must eventually end. Duty called as Sara received a message from Toval and Victor saying that there were still some things the three needed to discuss in the racecourse lounge. And so, Rean reluctantly agreed to see her off at the plaza near the stadium.

When the pair reached their destination, they began to say their goodbyes and well wishes. But as Rean turned to head out, however…

"Oh, Rean. Hold up…" Sara gently requested of Rean, who stopped in his tracks and turned with a curious expression for her.

"Hm…? Something the matter?" Rean asked the purple-haired bracer.

Sara lightly shook her head and closed her eyes with a small laugh. "No, not at all. I just wanted to give you a little invitation," she stated. Then the bracer looked at Rean with a small, warm, and hopeful smile as she continued. "Once we get through all this and everything's over, what do you say to visiting North Ambria with me?"

"_Whoa, what?"_ Rean thought to himself. "Are you sure?" the young instructor asked Sara, recovering pretty quickly from the mild shock that hit him.

The purple-haired bracer then took on a worried expression. "It's just… I haven't been back there since the Northern War." Then Sara looked to Rean with a sad smile. "And it seemed like you were worried about the place too, so…" She trailed off before sighing. "But I know we're both so busy… I understand if it's too far out of the way." Sara said, seemingly offering Rean a way out if he didn't want to go.

Rean's response was immediate, however. "All right. When we can both find the time, I'd love to go," he stated before giving Sara a soft and warm smile. "I'd like to visit your father's grave while I'm there too."

Sara seemed pleasantly surprised at the suggestion as she took a moment to think. Then she smiled softly at Rean. "You got it. There's a ton of stuff I need to go report to him, too." she began. "How I became a bracer in Erebonia, somehow ended up teaching at a military academy…" the older bracer trailed for a second. "That even someone like me can teach people and help them grow."

Rean gave a sad smile at this. "_Still on that, is she?_" he thought to himself. Though there may have been some personal bias on his part, he knew that he and the rest of the Old Class VII felt that they wouldn't be half the people they were if not for Sara.

But then Sara changed tune and donned a small playful smile. "Oh, and how I've even got a little Junior Instructor following in my footsteps," she said with a wink. A small blush came up on the purple-haired bracer's cheeks as she continued. "And that said Junior Instructor became quite the man if I do say so myself."

That caused Rean's smile to warm up a bit. "Sara…" the young man began as a small blush came up on his own cheeks. Then he straightened himself a bit before continuing. "I'd like to help your father rest easy. I plan to go there and tell him…" What the young man said next managed to even surprise himself a bit. "'As her student and as a man, I want to support your daughter just as much as you did. Mainly as the latter.'"

Sara jumped a bit in surprise at this, but she quickly recovered with a smile. "Heheh, well well, Rean. I get that you like to move fast, but damn!" she said lightheartedly, though, she was blushing a fair amount.

Rean sheepishly scratched his cheek at that. "Haha, sorry. I got a little too caught up in the moment." Then he stepped up and took one of Sara's hands in his own. "Let's get all this craziness here settled and done with. So we can both go visit North Ambria one day." he stated confidently.

Sara looked at the hand Rean was holding then chuckled with another warm smile and gently closed her eyes. "Yeah, I'm gonna hold you to that bit about supporting me!" she stated as the bracer moved to give her man a hug, one which was returned pretty much instantly.

The pair held the embrace for a few moments, with neither of them seeming to want to let go first. Then Sara leaned up to Rean's ear, a small grin on her face. "So what do you think, Rean? Should we tell her?" she whispered lightheartedly.

Rean gave a small chuckle as he whispered back. "Might as well." The pair then simultaneously released each other as the young instructor turned with a confident yet somewhat annoyed smirk. "Okay, you've had your fun, Musse. Come on out of there."

"Aawww, you caught me yet again, Instructor~" came a giggling reply as the busted student stepped out of her hiding spot. "Good afternoon, Instructor, Miss Valestein," she greeted with her signature curtsy and enigmatic smile. "Enjoying the festival, I hope?"

"We would've enjoyed it more if a certain someone wasn't stalking us the whole time," Sara responded, crossing her arms in mild annoyance.

Musse's smile turned even more playful at this. "Aww, caught from the very beginning again, hmm?" she asked with a small pout.

"Yes. You were," Rean answered simply before turning on Instructor/Dad mode. "Why were you following us, anyway? And does Maya know where you are? Where is she, anyway?"

Musse gave her signature giggle. "Oh, Maya's still at the boutique," she began. "When I saw you two walking around, I told her I had something I needed to do. She seemed to get the idea, though. As for 'why', well…" the young lady trailed, her expression turning even more playful but with a hint of determination as a small blush appeared on her cheeks. "Come now, Instructor, you can't blame a girl for wanting to gauge her competition, can you?"

"_Really?_" Rean thought to himself with an exasperated sigh. He noticed Sara was shooting the young lady a _very_ unamused glare. She also seemed to move ever so slightly closer to him as she did so.

Before the topic could be discussed further, however, Musse's ARCUS suddenly went off. As the green-haired student opened her orbment and read the message she received, her expression went from curious to resigned.

"Oh, dear," she began with a small sigh. "It seems Maya's starting to get worried about me. I suppose I _have_ kept her waiting for some time." Musse then typed up a quick response before she closed her ARCUS and turned back to her instructor and self-proclaimed rival with a smile. "And it would be cruel of me to keep her waiting, so I shall take my leave now. Enjoy the festival, you two~" she said as she gave the couple another curtsy before heading out.

Rean and Sara watched the student for a few moments before letting out exasperated sighs. "Is she always like that? I know you told me she was… Eccentric, but…" the bracer asked with a very perplexed expression.

"Yeah. To be perfectly honest, I'm more than a little worried that she'll end up getting me fired one of these days." Rean stated, shaking his head. "_I still can't quite figure her out yet, either,_" he mused to himself. He put that train of thought on the backburner for the moment as he turned to Sara.

"I don't blame you, really," the bracer admitted before sighing. "I mean, seriously? 'Competition?'" she stated before looking to Rean with a curious glance. Since that seemed to get a few chuckles out of him. "Okay, what's so funny?" she asked him with a small smirk.

Rean cleared his throat. "Sorry, it's just…" he trailed before shooting Sara a lighthearted smile. "She was talking about 'competition' when she really should've realized that she's not even really a contender." Rean then gently grasped both of Sara's hands in his own. "Because you've already won."

The pair was silent for a few moments after that… Until Sara started flat out laughing, with Rean blushing slightly in embarrassment. "Yeah, that sounded better in my head," he admitted sheepishly.

"Oh, I bet it did!" the bracer responded, managing to get ahold of herself fairly quickly. "And here you were being smooth earlier, too!" Then her expression softened as she gently tightened her own grip on Rean's hands. "But honestly? Thanks, Rean. Cheesy or not, that made me happy to hear."

Rean shot the bracer a soft smile of his own. Before he could respond, however, Sara leaned forward just enough to plant a brief kiss on his cheek. "Anyway, I've probably kept Toval and the Viscount waiting long enough. So with that, I'll see you later, Rean. Enjoy the rest of the festival," she said with a wink before turning and heading towards the racecourse.

For a moment, Rean stared at Sara's retreating form with a gentle and content smile on his face before placing a hand over the spot she kissed. "_That's certainly familiar. Not that I mind,_" he mused to himself. After taking a second to gather his thoughts, the instructor reached into his pocket to check on his tickets. Turns out, only one was left. "_Hmm… I wonder if Altina would enjoy that bread-making competition on Vesta Street..._"

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

Originally, Gaius was content to go along with Elliot and explore Heimdallr and the festival together. The previous few days had been crazy, to say the least; for both him and the rest of Class VII.

However, it seemed that the winds and goddess had different plans for him. Not long after Gaius met up with his musician friend, they came across Mint and Linde in the Racecourse Plaza. Apparently, Mint had managed to find a way to drag her out of her office to enjoy the festival together.

After exchanging their hello's and pleasantries, Linde suggested the idea of the four of them enjoying the festival together as a group. Mint and Elliot both readily agreed, with the mechanic musing that a group of four would be perfect for the festival; while also musing about checking up on her Uncle Makarov, who was apparently on a date with Instructor Mary.

Gaius was quick to follow up on his own approval of the idea. In truth, he had been waiting for a chance like this. Since his visit to the Branch Campus, he hadn't had much of a chance to talk to Linde until that point. While there were a few small things he wanted to discuss with her, a certain event from said visit was at the forefront in his mind. And though Linde tried her best, whenever they made eye contact, Gaius could tell she was following the same basic idea. She seemed fairly nervous about it, too; though he couldn't exactly blame her.

Something like that wasn't a proper discussion to have with two other people nearby, however. So as the four of them went around the festival together, Gaius and Linde had managed to skirt around the topic. Though Gaius did not that she seemed to grow more nervous little by little as they went on.

Gaius couldn't lie, though; he was having a lot of fun. Mint was right on the money about their group size being perfect for the festival. And suffice it to say, they were having a blast. Chatting up tourists, trading small talk, checking out the stalls, taking part in some of the contests and games, and just hanging out together in general proved to be a great time for all four of them. They even managed to run into a few of the others from both the Old and New Class VII; with the highlight of the former being Jusis and Millium while she was practically dragging the poor noble around. Though both Gaius and Elliot noted that he didn't really seem to mind.

Then, later in the afternoon as the group was about to get a quick bite to eat, Mint spotted a stand that apparently had really caught her attention. She explained to the three of them that she was going to check it out and would be right back before she dashed off. But with a quick cursory glance, they easily figured out what was going on. The stand was a perfect spot for Mint to hide so she could get a good view of Instructors Makarov and Mary out on their "date."

Elliot, Gaius and Linde all gave each other worried glances at this. "I'll… Go and bring her back." Elliot volunteered himself with a sigh. "I'm pretty sure Instructors Makarov and Mary wouldn't appreciate her following them like this." He then turned to the pair with a light smile. "Why don't you two go on ahead for now? We'll catch up," the musician promised as he gave a small wave and went after his fellow orchestra member.

Gaius and Linde took Elliot up on his suggestion and went off on their own. As they walked, they managed to check out a few more sideshows and contests while making some small talk along the way. But as time went on, it was clear to Gaius that Linde was running out of steam and she was growing more and more nervous as time went on.

Eventually, the pair found themselves in the Sankt District, with the awkward tension between them growing higher and higher. "_Okay, now's as good a time as any, I guess,_" Gaius thought to himself, before putting on a somewhat serious expression. "Linde, there's something I wanted to talk to you about," he began. "...About what happened back in Leeves."

Linde looked to Gaius with clear unease in her eyes. "Um… You mean what happened at the station?" Linde asked nervously, her cheeks flushing slightly. Gaius responded with a nod, and a few moments later, she turned her gaze to the ground. "I'm really sorry about that, Gaius. I honestly don't really know what came over me, and I-"

"You don't need to apologize, Linde," Gaius gently interrupted with a soft smile. Linde turned her gaze back up to her companion at this before he continued. "I wasn't mad at all, just surprised, really." A fairly interesting idea suddenly came to him as he went on. "Though, I'll admit you didn't give me much of a chance to respond," he said with a somewhat more neutral expression.

That caused Linde to shoot him a fairly confused glance for a moment before she realized what he meant. "Oh… Yeah, I guess I did, huh?" she asked with a small nervous smile and chuckle.

Gaius responded with a small warm chuckle of his own. "If it's alright with you, I'd like to rectify that." he stated, taking a small breath. "Could you please do me a favor and close your eyes for a second?" he gently requested of the nurse.

Linde looked unsure for a moment before responding. "Um… Okay." she said as she gently closed her eyes.

"_Okay, here goes…_" Gaius thought to himself as he took a quietly deep breath and stepped forward. Linde seemed to tell that he was right in front of her as she visibly tensed up ever so slightly. But that didn't deter Gaius much as he raised a hand to gently caress her cheek…

And he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead.

Linde gasped and stiffend in surprise at this. After a moment, Gaius pulled away, keeping his hand on her cheek and giving her another small and warm smile. As he did so, he was met with Linde giving him a fairly shocked expression, wide-eyed stare and all. That did little to deter his smile, though.

After a moment, Linde's expression started to shift. Her eyes remained wide, but they seemed to take on a bit of a shine. And the corners of her mouth started to turn upwards. Eventually, she had on the brightest smile Gaius had ever seen on her up until that point. And he couldn't help but widen his own smile in return.

Then, with a small giggle, Linde hopped up to latch her arms around Gaius' neck in an embrace, one which he happily returned. For a few moments, the noise and atmosphere of the festival seemed to have been drowned out for Gaius. His sole focus at that time was on the woman in his arms. It seemed like nothing could break him or Linde out of this moment.

"Oh. My. Goddess!"

But the Winds and the Goddess just love to prove people wrong, it seems. The sudden outburst broke Gaius and Linde out of their little reverie as they loosened their hold on each other slightly. They turned to where the voice came from and found Linde's twin sister Vivi, wide-eyed and jaw practically on the floor. And on either side of her was Fie and Laura, who looked no less surprised themselves, minus the hanging jaw. Fie managed to recover quickly though, as she gave the pair one of her signature v-signs with a relaxed expression.

Before either Gaius or Linde could say anything, Vivi straight up sprinted to her sister and wrapped her up in a big hug. "Haha! I'm so proud of you, Sis! I knew you had it in you!" she practically squealed.

"Vivi?! When did you get here?" Linde asked her younger twin, more than a little surprised and flustered at this turn of events.

Laura managed to gather her bearings and cleared her throat, albeit with a small blush. "I apologize, but... We have actually been here for some time," she answered. "We only saw you two a few moments ago and had thought to join you for the festival, but then…"

"You two started getting cozy," Fie bluntly finished for her friend. Then she turned to Gaius with a small but genuine smile. "By the way, congrats you two." Laura seemed to share her sentiment as she nodded and gave the couple a warm smile of her own; albeit with a fairly apologetic glint in her eyes.

Gaius and Linde glanced at each other for a moment before donning small smiles of their own. Then Gaius turned back to his former classmates and Linde gently returned her twin's embrace. "Thanks, you two, that's nice of you to say," he said with a scratch to the back of his head.

"Yeah, thanks," Linde stated with an appreciative glance to the two before turning to her sister. "Okay, Vivi, you can let go, now."

Vivi reluctantly let go of her sister and took a step back, a sheepish smile on her face. "Heheh, sorry. Guess I got a little overexcited," she admitted. "But can you blame me?! I mean come on!" Vivi shouted, starting to get excited again already. "My sister is out on her first date with her new boyfriend!" That last remark from her seemed to give her a small lightbulb moment as she stopped to think.

Meanwhile, Gaius and Linde shared another surprised expression with each other at the 'boyfriend' part. "Huh, never thought I'd see Gaius blush," Fie remarked. As for Laura, she opted to stay quiet; visibly suffering from more than a little second-hand embarrassment from this situation.

However, Gaius didn't exactly register Fie's statement right then and there. "'_Boyfriend?' Me?_" He thought to himself. "_Am I- Are we really...?_" He stopped that train of thought. "_Well, with everything that's happened, looks like we are,_" he concluded internally before donning another small, warm smile. And it seemed to Gaius that Linde was following the same train of thought, as she practically mirrored his expression, albeit with a more pronounced blush on her cheeks.

And with a snap of her fingers, Vivi spoke up. "Alright, I got it," she stated before grabbing her camera and gesturing to the new couple. "Can I _pleeeaaassse_ take a picture of you two really quick?" That got the pairs attention as they turned to the journalist, who raised a finger before they could respond. "And before you ask 'why,'" she began. "...I mean, c'mon! It's your first date, Sis! This is something worth commemorating!" While her eyes were shining with excitement, it was clear to both Gaius and Linde that she was being very genuine as well.

The pair then made eye contact once more and nodded in silent agreement before turning back to the excited journalist. "Okay, Vivi," Linde acquiesced, much to the audible joy of her sister.

"Just one condition," Gaius interjected, as the others turned to him in curiosity, minus Linde. "Could you please send me and Linde a copy of the picture as well? I'd like to have one as a memento, myself," he explained with a small smile towards Linde, who returned it happily before turning back to her twin.

"Same here. Please?"

Vivi shot the pair an easygoing smile. "Oh, of course! Was kinda planning on that anyway!" Then she gestured between them. "While we're on the subject, are you guys alright if I share it with the others in Class VII?"

"I don't mind at all" "Sounds fine to me" Gaius and Linde respectively answered. Gaius noted that Fie donned a small smile at that, and gave a nearly imperceptible fist-pump. Even Laura, who had tried to check out of the discussion for the past few moments had visibly brightened up at the idea.

Vivi grinned and gave a thumbs up. "All right, great! Now let's get to work!" She stated as she started getting her camera ready. Once she was done, she gave the couple a thumbs up. "Okay, all set, now scooch in nice and close together, you two."

Gaius and Linde shared another small smile as he offered her his arm, which she happily took. Linde also managed to snake a hand down to Gaius' and interlocked her fingers with his while gently squeezing, which the Nord reciprocated. Then she topped it all off by gently grasping Gaius' proffered arm and leaning her head into his shoulder.

"Haha! Perfect!" Vivi shouted happily. With her day clearly made, she got to work on snapping pictures of the couple. And she was a quick worker, too, managing to get a fair amount of pictures at a few different angles all within the span of at most two minutes. Once the journalist was finished, she went up to the pair and surprised them by giving them both a hug. "I gotta say it again, congratulations, you two. I'm really happy for you guys." she said warmly.

Gaius and Linde shared another smile before gently returning the embrace together, while still holding each other's hand. "Thanks, Vivi. That's really sweet of you to say." the nurse responded with Gaius humming in agreement. Then her eyes narrowed at her younger twin. "But let me guess, you're still going to tease me nonstop over this whole thing, aren't you?"

"Of course!" Vivi responded happily, breaking away from the hug and shooting the pair a grin. "Would you have me any other way?" Linde's only response was to sigh and shake her head, though Gaius noted that she had a soft smile on her face as she did so. He also noticed Fie shooting them a very bemused expression while Laura was smiling happily at the trio.

"Some things never change, it would seem." the swordswoman said with a light chuckle. Fie looked to be about to add on to her friend's statement, but right as she opened her mouth…

"HEEEEEEY, GUUUUYS!" a familiar shrill voice broke through the festival noise.

When the group turned to the source, they found Mint energetically waving at them, with Elliot in tow… Poor, disheveled and tired-looking Elliot. "_Just what did you do to him, Mint?_" Gaius thought to himself, more than a little worried for his friend.

"Sorry to leave you guys like that! Just had to get a status update on-" Mint cut herself off from her explanation as something caught her eye. The mechanic then shot Gaius and Linde a smirk as she raised a hand to her chin. "So, what's been going on here, huh?" she asked lightheartedly.

Elliot, once he had smoothed his hair and clothes over some more, turned to his friend in confusion. "Uh, Mint? What are you-" he was cut off by Mint pointing towards the pair. After a moment, Elliot figured out where exactly she was pointing, donning a fairly surprised expression. "Well, uh, that's new." he stated with a small smile as he recovered quickly, albeit with a nervous scratch to his cheek.

It was then that Gaius and Linde realized that they were still holding each others' hands, and Mint and Elliot had gotten a pretty clear view of it. With a small smile towards each other, they let go and went over to their friends to give them the scoop and resume their earlier plans.

"WAIT, WERE YOU GUYS ON A DOUBLE DATE?!"

"_Oh goddess, here we go…_" Gaius thought to himself in a rare moment of exasperation from him. And yet, despite the slight embarrassment and chaos that was about to ensue thanks to Vivi, he found that he wouldn't have changed a thing for that day. One more moment of peace and happiness for both him and Linde… Before the Winds took their destined course.

* * *

AN: Oh dear lord, I am so sorry this took so long, guys. I wasn't really planning on having to take my proper laptop into the shop (speaking of which, looks like that might still be a little bit). Not to mention periodic writer's block, lack of motivation, and having to rewrite different parts of this chapter a few different times didn't help much at all, either. And neither did the fact that this old laptop of mine is kind of a POS.

Well, anyway, hope you folks enjoyed this chapter! It's my longest one yet, after all. And with that, I bid you all a good day!


	5. May I Have This Dance? (Rean x Sara)

**May I Have This Dance?**

* * *

If there was one word to describe Esmelas Garden at the moment, it would probably have to be 'alive.' Valflame Palace's famed garden was simply alight with conversation, laughs, clinking glasses, and of course, dance. All to be expected, there _was_ a party going on, after all.

Sara smiled softly as she looked over the festivities with a nearly empty glass of wine in her hand. She couldn't help but feel more than a little pride at seeing her old class mingle with some of the power players of society like it was everyday business. And that smile grew wider as she watched them dancing, both in happiness and in amusement.

In particular, Sara noticed that Fie was shooting Gaius a very amused smirk as she danced with him, while Laura seemed to be somewhat unsure as she danced with Elliot. Then the two young ladies decided to shake things up a bit and paired up to dance themselves. As she watched this, Sara made a mental note to have Fie give her the low down on what exactly was going on later. She also noticed that both Fie and Laura seemed to be visibly happier when dancing together compared to their previous partners...

Though, Sara had to admit that she did feel at least a slight modicum of jealousy as she saw Rean on the dance floor with a fair share of different partners. Princess Alfin, Elise, Towa, and Alisa all managed to share a dance with the famed Ashen Chevalier so far; and at the moment, he was dancing with Juna. Granted, Sara understood the context for all of them; Alfin's the princess and he's a national 'hero,' kind of a requirement, Elise was his sister, Towa was his coworker, and Juna was his student (and at least it wasn't Musse).

Alisa was the odd one out, but as Sara was trying to figure her out, she spotted the blonde woman walking up to her. "I'm really sorry!" Alisa nearly shouted with a quick bow and a blush on her face. "I swear, that dance wasn't my idea. Sharon just got pretty pushy… Literally, and…" she trailed, turning to give the maid an annoyed glare, with Sara following her lead.

Sharon seemed to notice this, as she gave the two her standard enigmatic smile, much to Sara's annoyance. "_Not cool, Super-Maid…_" she thought to herself as she and Alisa shared a sigh at the Enforcer's antics. "Don't worry, Alisa, I'm not mad or anything," the bracer said with a small smile.

As Alisa was about to respond, something managed to catch their eyes as they turned back to the dancing. What they saw caused both the ladies to smile warmly as they witnessed Rean dancing with Altina.

Sara found the sight just plain adorable. Rean was looking very content and Altina was smiling fairly brightly. "You know, they kind of look like a father and daughter duo out there, don't they?" Alisa said with a fond giggle.

"Yeah, they do." Sara fondly agreed as she finished the last of her drink, placing it on a nearby tray. Then, as Rean and Altina finished their dance, the bracer noticed Alisa got some sort of glint in her eye.

"You know," Alisa began as she turned to Sara with a smile. "This may have been a pretty long night for all of us, but I think if you ask him, he just might have the energy for one more dance." Then the blonde gently grasped the bracer's shoulder. "What do you say? Wanna give it a shot?"

Before Sara managed to answer, she noticed Rean making his way towards them with a smile. "Hey, you two," he greeted the two ladies. "Are you having fun?"

"Yeah, I'd say we are. Right, Sara?" Alisa answered as she turned to the bracer with a knowing smile and a wink. Then, she donned a small frown. "But I just remembered, Mother said she needed to talk to me about something earlier. Probably shouldn't keep her waiting much longer; I'll talk to you two later!" And with an encouraging pat on Sara's shoulder, the blonde manager left the pair to 'find her mother.'

"_Subtle, Alisa._" Sara thought as she shared an amused glance with Rean. "So, Rean, how about you? I imagine tonight's been fun for you so far?" the bracer asked with a small smile. "After all, it's not every day you get to dance with the princess."

Rean chuckled somewhat nervously at that. "You're not wrong," he replied before donning a thoughtful expression. "In all seriousness, I should probably thank her later. Feels like we both dodged a bullet, thanks to her." The black-haired instructor slumped a bit in relief at that last statement.

Not that Sara could really blame him, of course. After all, Princess Alfin did essentially save both herself and Rean from having to deal with the whole 'a dance today, a wedding tomorrow' deal associated with the first dance of a noble society debut and all. Not to mention the whispers she heard about Prince Cedric trying to set up that whole affair, the punk. She made a mental note to thank the young lady for that later, as Rean looked to her again with a smile.

"But to answer your question, yeah, I am having fun," he stated before sighing again. "Though, I have to admit, I am getting kind of tired." That didn't surprise Sara. Rean had spent the whole day walking around and working as it was, add to that the amount of dancing he just did, and she was surprised he still had any energy at all.

Before Sara could respond, though, Rean spoke up. "But I think I've got enough energy left in me for one more dance," he said. The bracer had to restrain herself from doing a double take at the accidental parroting of Alisa's earlier statement before Rean continued.

"So Sara, what do you say? Will you dance with me?"

Sara smiled warmly before she responded. "Of course," she said before chuckling a bit. "Just don't expect me to lead."

"Don't worry, I'm sure I'll manage." Rean answered with a chuckle as he took her hand and guided them both to the dance floor. The pair managed to draw a fair amount of eyes as they began dancing together.

While she was watching him with his other partners, Sara had noted how Rean had visibly improved on his dancing compared to the Thors Academy Festival back then. And yet, as the two of them began to move in time with the music, she still found herself pleasantly surprised. While a few minor details caught a glance from her as well,-such as Alisa giving her and Rean a thumbs up-for the most part, the bracer's attention was primarily fixed on the man in front of her and the warm gaze from his lilac eyes.

All the pair could do was smile as they danced together. With the music and the atmosphere, it was as if the world had fallen to the wayside, along with the passage of time.

But eventually, the pair began to reach the climax of their dance. As they did, they began to take note of the crowd around them, specifically the paparazzi. Sara generally never thought very highly of them, and hearing of Rean's occasional experiences with them only served to worsen her opinion of them. Especially with how particularly eager they were regarding the whole dancing and relationship situation with him and Princess Alfin, no thanks to Prince Cedric.

As Sara was thinking about that, an idea suddenly came to her as she donned a small smile. Then, the bracer leaned in close to Rean as they began the finishing touches to their dance. "Say Rean," she began with a whisper. "You know how those journalists over there were all anxious over you and the princess? How about we give 'em something to talk about?"

Rean figured out what she was referring to almost immediately, as he closed his eyes in thought while still keeping his smile. "Hmm… Well, I am getting tired of those offers from some of the other nobles out there," he stated as he reopened his eyes with an unmistakable glint and moved to stare directly into Sara's.

"And besides, I received some advice of my own earlier when my class's field studies here began," he stated with a smirk.

"Oh really, now?" Sara responded quietly as they came closer and closer to their finale. "And what would that be?"

"'Follow my heart and damn the consequences,'" Rean answered as he brought Sara in for one last spin.

Afterwards, the pair closed the distance between them, their lips barely an inch apart. "Sounds like a plan to me," Sara whispered as she moved in and pressed a searing kiss to Rean's lips; one which he readily returned.

Though Sara's attention was mainly focused on the kiss and the man she was sharing it with, the reactions of the crowd around them were immediate and loud enough to catch her ear.

"Oh, my!" Princess Alfin.

"R-Rean!" Elise.

"Wh-What in blazes?!" Patrick.

"Heh, damn, Schwarzer," Ash.

"Oh, how bold!~" Musse.

"W-Whoa!" Juna.

"WHOOO! Get it, you two!" Oh, Millium.

"Oh, boy," Machias.

"Well now!" Prince Cedric (the punk).

"Nice, Sara," Fie.

After a few seconds, the pair broke their kiss. It was then that Sara noticed the camera flashes going on around them. She couldn't really find it in her to care much about that, however, as she and Rean lead each other to rejoin the crowd. Keeping a tight yet gentle grip on his hand and sharing a fond smile with him all the while.

Once in the crowd again, Sara spared a glance towards Alisa again and noticed the blonde manager actually giving Sharon a lecture of her own. 'That's what you get, Super Maid,' she thought smugly. Before she could enjoy seeing the maid actually being flustered for once, however, Jusis decided to approach the pair.

"You two never were ones for subtlety, were you?" Jusis remarked dryly. "Then again, knowing you two, I shouldn't be surprised."

"Guess we did kinda cause a commotion, didn't we?" Rean responded, scratching his cheek with his free hand while gently tightening his grip on Sara's.

Jusis shook his head with a smile. "No need to apologize, Rean." He then turned to Sara with a curious expression. "Though, are you two sure about this? You do realize that this means they'll be shifting attention to the both of you at once _and_ the status of your relationship, right?"

Sara responded with a shrug. "Eh, I'm not too worried about that, really." Then she smiled. "Besides, I'd like to see them try to keep up with me and all the places work takes me!"

"_And besides, I'm personally hoping this finally got through to Musse, too,_" the bracer thought to herself.

"Careful, Sara, some of them just might take up that challenge," Rean stated before turning back to Jusis. "Actually, Jusis, that little party you brought me to earlier this month was what got me thinking about this sort of thing."

As Rean and Jusis began to delve into their own little conversation, Sara decided to spare another quick glance around. Needless to say, Alfin and Elise still looked somewhat surprised while Fie was giving her a sly smile. Then she brought her gaze towards their hosts for the night.

Both the emperor and the empress wore visibly amused smiles, and it seemed like the emperor was actually chuckling a bit. Meanwhile, Class VII's absolute favorite person in the world, Chancellor Giliath Osborne, was beside them, looking about as stoic and devious as ever. He did seem to be at least somewhat curious about what Sara and Rean just did, though, and...

Hold on, was that… A small glint of _pride_ in his eye as well? "_What's going on with him now?_" Sara thought suspiciously. Before she could delve too much further into that line of thought, however, Rean and Jesus' conversation managed to regain her attention.

"I see your point, Rean, but you and I both know that this may only embolden some of the other… More aggressive noble families out there," Just stated with a worried frown. With that, Sara didn't take long to figure out what the two men were discussing at the moment. Rean did tell her of that little arranged marriage ordeal the young Albarea scion had to endure with his help, after all. Before Rean could respond, however…

"My apologies for arriving so late," a familiarly haughty voice cut through the noise of the music and the crowd. The trio looked toward the source of the voice and found none other than Governor General Rufus Albarea, arriving fashionably late to the party.

As Rufus made his way in and announced himself and his reasons for being late to the Emperor, Sara couldn't help but think to herself some more. "_Geez, just what else does tonight have in store for us, huh?_" she wondered quietly. And yet, as she looked to the scene in front of her, the bracer couldn't help but feel a growing sense of anxiety and worry deep within herself.

As she looked to Rean once more, an observant and critical gaze in his eyes, Sara could easily tell that she was far from alone in that regard. She felt him gently squeeze her hand, which she readily reciprocated.

Despite what was going on and what may come to pass, Sara and Rean both knew that they could at least take some solace in each other for the moment.

"Jusis, come with me! Let us catch up, my dear brother!" Rufus called out suddenly, his usual enigmatic smile on his face. "Machias, Alisa, Elliot, and Laura as well! Join us! I'm sure we've much to talk about."

That came as a surprise to Class VII, but before they could react properly, Osborne turned to them as well.

"In that case, I shall call upon Ms. Valestein and Ms. Herschel," the chancellor stated. "Come, allow me to introduce you to the empress." It may have been Sara's imagination, but she could've sworn she saw a ghost of a smirk on Osborne's face as he called her name...

Oh boy…

* * *

AN: Really sorry about how long this took, folks. Looks like I'm starting to slow down a bit again, sadly. Well, here's hoping that when CS4 comes out I'll get that drive back again. I'll still keep working on this and other ideas I have, though. In other news, I have a job again, now. So that will be another reason why updates might come a little slower as well.

Anyway, with all that, I wish you all a great day; stay safe and healthy out there, alright? See you next time, folks!


	6. Spill the Beans! (Gaius x Linde)

**Spill the Beans!**

Normally, Linde would be more than happy to share a meal with her former classmates and her sister. A chance to share some laughs and stories over some good food always sounded like a good time to her; especially now with the Summer Festival kicking in high gear. At the moment, though...

"So…" Oh, Aidios, Linde recognized that tone, and she did _not_ like it. Especially when it was coming from Vivi. "How long have you two been a thing?" Vivi asked with a catlike grin.

Before Linde could respond, however, Becky chimed in. "Oh, I'd say it's been about a week now. What with that little stunt you pulled in front of the station and all," she said with a chuckle and a grin slowly forming on her face.

"_Oh right, she was there too,_" Linde remembered with a sigh as she gathered herself. "I… May have kissed him on the cheek before he left," she answered with a small blush.

"Aye, left him properly shocked, too. Never seen that man blush before," Becky stated with a grin, which softened after a moment. "In all seriousness, I do feel kinda bad for scarin' you off like that, Linde. Knowing you, that took some guts to do that in the town like that, and in front of Rean, too." Unbeknownst to Becky, that little stunt was a bit of a spur of the moment decision on Linde's part, so while guts were involved, the main factor was something akin to adrenaline.

"Wait, Rean was there, too?! And she did that in the middle of Leeves?!" Vivi shouted, turning to her twin again. "Oooh, sounds like we got ourselves a budding exhibitionist here, huh?"

"Wh-WHAT?! VIVI!" Linde admonished her sister, an outraged blush spreading over her cheeks. "It's not like tha-," she stopped herself. Now that she thought about it, both her little stunt in Leeves and their moment in the Sankt District earlier that day _were_ in places where there was a chance for there to be a lot of people around. "_Wait… Oh Aidios above, does she actually have a point there?!_"

"Uh, moving on from that," Rosine cut in, much to Linde's relief. "Now I'm a little curious about something. When did you realize you felt this way about him?" she asked. Now that managed to get the attention of the table.

Linde was silent for a few moments as she put a hand to her chin, thinking over her answer. "Now that I think about it, I'm not really sure…" she answered. Then, her eyes widened slightly as she remembered something. "Although, I guess it was back when I was in Roer during the Civil War."

That seemed to pique Vivi's interest. "Oh yeah, when we got separated, you went with Gaius, Alisa, and Millium, right?" she asked.

"Oh yeah! Now I remember, I was there with you guys, too!" Mint spoke up before frowning slightly. "You ended up getting separated from us, too, though."

Linde nodded as she continued. "Yeah, I'm still not entirely sure how that happened. Anyway, while I was in Roer, I just…" she paused for a moment. "I don't know, things just didn't really feel… 'Right,' I guess." Then a small soft smile appeared on her face. "And then he showed up with Rean and you guys."

"And all was right in the world again!" Vivi cut in with a little flourish, earning her an eye roll from her twin, whose expression turned somber as she continued.

"But I think when I really realized how I felt was when…" Linde trailed.

"When Gaius and tha' rest a' Class VII graduated early, except for Rean?" Becky finished for her.

Linde gave an affirming nod to Becky's guess, and Vivi's eyes suddenly widened. "Wait, was that the reason why you transferred from Thors?" she asked.

Linde turned to her twin and shook her head. "No, not really. I really did feel like I could put my talents to better use as a nurse instead…" Then a small blush appeared on her cheeks. "But, I admit that being at Thors didn't really feel… _Right_ without him there, especially in the Art Club." The nurse smiled softly. "Then, when I heard from Rean that he met with Gaius in Lamare during their field exercises, I felt like things had started to click again. And then when I finally saw him again at the branch campus… Well…"

Vivi and Mint both responded with a small chorus of lighthearted "Awww's". And Rosine gave a warm giggle while Becky chuckled. And just when Linde thought they were going to ease up a bit on her…

"So, when's the wedding?" ...Mint just _had_ to drop a bombshell, didn't she?

"W-W-WHAT?!"

"Ooh! Dibs on being the Maid of Honor!" Vivi shouted excitedly.

"Pfft! Pretty sure you need to actually _have_ some honor to hold that position!" Becky retorted.

Linde managed to tune out the ensuing bickering match between the journalist and the shopkeep as buried her cherry-red face in her arms in embarrassment. Then images started flowing through her mind. Herself in a wedding dress, Gaius in a tux, and a small venue featuring mainly their families and close friends in Nord among other things. And she found herself smiling softly at the thought, even with her face still buried. '_Wait, I still haven't met his family yet…_' she realized internally…

Then she came to her senses. "_Wait. YET?! Hold on Linde, that's moving a bit too fast!..._ _WHY AM I THINKING ABOUT THIS NOW?!"_ Linde cried internally.

Meanwhile, as Vivi and Becky continued their argument while Mint chuckled at them, Rosine regarded Linde with a sympathetic look and managed to somewhat shake the nurse out of her stupor with a gentle pat to the shoulder. "There, there." the sister consoled her with a small yet warm smile, although she was struggling to rein in a few errant chuckles herself.

Linde rose her head at the gesture and returned the sister's smile gratefully. Rosine then turned back towards the other three with a curious look for Mint in particular. Somehow managing to get Vivi and Becky to cease their squabble with a simple raise of her hand while she was at it.

"How about you, Mint? You and Elliot seem to be getting pretty close."

Vivi's eyes widened at that. "Oh yeah! That's right, you two were basically together all day today weren't you?" she asked the mechanic.

"Oh, really? Congrats, Mint. You scored yourself a good man as well, I say." Becky stated to her friend.

Mint, for her part, just plain looked confused as she tilted her head at her two friends. "Huh? What are you guys on about?"

As her twin and coworker proceeded to needle the self-oblivious flautist, Linde turned to Rosine once more with another grateful smile. Then something caught her eye. Rosine's medallion.

"Hmm? Linde? What is it?" the sister asked Linde, noticing her friend's curious stare.

"Your medallion…" Linde quietly uttered. "I only saw it for a second earlier, but Gaius has one that looks a lot like that…" She turned her gaze up to Rosine's eyes, and found the sister looking surprisingly nervous. "Rosine, do you know why he was away for so long? And why no one couldn't get in contact with him?"

After sparing a quick glance towards the other three, who were still in the middle of their discussion (with Mint somehow looking even more confused and Vivi and Becky being visibly nonplussed), Rosine motioned for Linde to lean in closer.

"I do know why he was out of reach for that point in time." she whispered to Linde. "However, I was not involved in the circumstances that caused his absence. And I apologize, but I'm not really at any liberty to say any more than that." Then Rosine smiled at the nurse. "I can say this, though. You were definitely on his mind a lot, particularly when he was painting." The sister surprised her with a wink. "Oh, and you don't need to worry about any sort of vows either, if you get what I'm saying."

"_...NOT YOU TOO, ROSINE!" _Linde shouted internally as she died a little inside for the umpteenth time that night. "I-I wasn't worried about any of that!" she whisper-shouted to Rosine, another fierce blush on her face.

"My twin senses are tingling!" Oh, no. "I believe I heard my dear twin sister being teased by our good friend here and I wasn't allowed to partake!" Vivi shouted.

With the attention of the other three ladies regained, another round of questions and teasing began for Linde. Luckily for her, though, Rosine helped keep the questions and remarks at least somewhat tame, even with Vivi's persistence.

"_This is gonna be a long night…_" Linde thought to herself in mild exasperation. And yet, with good company like this, she found that she didn't really mind. "_I do hope I'll get some answers from either Rosine or Gaius, soon, though…_" she thought while making one more glance towards her mysterious friend before settling in and preparing herself for whatever Vivi and Becky had in store for her.

* * *

AN: Holy CRAP, I am so sorry this took so long to get out. Work's been taking up most of my time and then CS4 came out, so a lot of my time went to beating that. Though, I will say this, I have thought up some new ideas for other stories that are similar to this one. As for when I'll actually start on them and put them out, I can't really say yet.

Anyway, I hope you folks enjoyed this!


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